Changing Pace
by laughing on the inside
Summary: Kuroko has graduated from Teikou and is plagued with nightmares involving basketball. He goes for an early morning run to clear his head and finds a golden eyed boy playing tennis against a brick wall. Will Ryoma Echizen be able to fill the basketball-shaped hole in Kuroko's heart with tennis?
1. To Leave Our Nightmares Behind

A/N; First KnB crossover! I have very little to say except that I hope you enjoy!

* * *

**_~Changing Pace~_**

_Chapter 1: To Leave Our Nightmares Behind_

Kuroko awoke with a scream. His nightmare-inspired cries echoed around him in the empty house. As usual, his parents were away on business, leaving him far too alone for his liking. He put a hand to his head and wrestled for control of his breathing. Once he had ceased his terror-induced panting, he immediately threw off his blankets and made his way to the bathroom. He turned on the faucet and wiped the sweat from his face, taking slow, haggard breaths. He leant against the basin to steady himself. It wasn't a particularly hot night, but he was sweating bullets.

His nightmares were getting more vivid. He wondered if he'd ever be able to sleep properly again.

Once he was done, he turned off the tap and dried his face. He looked to his room and gave a shudder. He would not be trying to sleep again that night, he was sure. Instead, he pulled on a light blue hoodie and rummaged around, looking for a pair of runners. He was unsuccessful; he'd thrown most of them away after he'd graduated from Teikou. The best he could find were a pair of Converses. He shrugged to himself; they would do.

He pulled them on, tied them up and jogged out of his house.

It was a quiet night, he noted, as the stars watched over him, keeping him company. Or perhaps the streets were always this lonely at 1am. He wouldn't know. This was the first time he'd ever tried jogging so early in the morning, but he needed to find a way to cope with the nightmares.

They had started a few weeks ago, after Teiko had won Nationals. Kuroko felt the bitter taste in the back of his mouth. He jogged faster, trying to out run his problems. Whenever he closed his eyes, he saw his former teammates. He saw their faces, devoid of any passion, even as they stood on the courts; once the happiest place they knew.

Kuroko shook the image out of his head.

He knew that they were just too talented. That they were disillusioned; the sport they held in such esteem was actually not some miracle invention of the gods; it was just a game. The more they played, the better they became, until no one could stand before them. Kuroko grimaced. The worst part of all of this, in his opinion, was that wasn't enough that his friends had lost their love for basketball; they seemed to go out of their way to make sure everyone around them hated it too. Again, Kuroko tried to shake the thoughts from his head.

Maybe if he ran far enough, fast enough, the nightmares would leave him alone. He felt the beating of his feet against the ground, he thought of nothing more than breathing and moving.

Kuroko ran for a long time. He didn't know how far he'd gone or even where he was. He only felt the need to keep going. Eventually, his lack of stamina caught up with him and he collapsed on a park bench. He felt like throwing up, but he knew he'd just end up dry heaving; he hadn't eaten anything since lunch the day before.

He was so tired and he was so thirsty, but he didn't have any money or water. He'd left his house with nothing but the shoes on his feet and the clothes on his back. He didn't care. Maybe if he fell asleep now, on this bench, he'd never get up and he wouldn't have to face the problems of a new day.

Thump, thump, swish. Thump, thump, swish.

Kuroko heard the rhythmic tapping and the swish of a ball. Was it his imagination? He'd given up basketball; he'd quit the team. Was it going to haunt him forever?

Thump, thump, swish . Thump, thump, swish.

Kuroko cocked his head. There was something odd about the rhythm. It wasn't the loud, hollow thump of a basketball hitting concrete, nor was it the airy swish of a rustled hoop. It was…different. But it was calm, relaxing. He liked it.

* * *

Kuroko was startled awake. He wasn't sure for how long he'd been asleep, but it couldn't have been more than a few minutes; the sky was the same pink-ish sunrise hue it had been before he'd dozed off. And the rhythmic thump-swish beat was still there.

Kuroko pulled himself off the bench. He was more than curious, now, about the noise. He followed it deeper into the park, making his way up a set of concrete stairs. At the top, he found a basketball court.

_Of course,_ Kuroko snorted to himself mentally.

He spotted a lone figure positioned on the court, but he wasn't playing basketball. To Kuroko's surprise, the figure was swinging a tennis racket. He bounced the ball once on the cement, hit the ball with a swish and played a rally against the wall. Back and forth, he watched the boy play against his inanimate opponent.

Kuroko knew next to nothing about tennis, but he could appreciate the grace and fluidity with which the boy moved. It was fascinating to watch.

Kuroko moved closer, until he was standing only a few feet away from the boy.

"You know, there's a tennis court over there," Kuroko stated.

The boy gave a yelp and flicked his racquet violently with surprise. It sent the ball flying at the wall at a break-neck pace. The boy whipped around, spotting Kuroko with a start and forgetting about the fluorescent yellow ball that came rebounding back toward his head at lightning speed.

It clocked him solidly in the temple.

The boy fell backwards clutching his head in pain.

Kuroko winced in sympathy; "Oops,"

* * *

Kuroko helped the boy up and guided him to a park bench. The boy stoically refused his help, telling him that he was fine. Kuroko ignored him and found a drinking fountain. He pulled off his hoodie and soaked it in the cool water, wringing it a bit then running back to place the garment against the lump forming on the boy's head.

"I apologise for startling you," Kuroko said as the boy gave up his protests and allowed Kuroko to apply the cool hoodie to his temple.

"Hn," the boy grunted, "I'm fine,"

"I was wondering why you were playing tennis on the basketball court,"

The boy shrugged, "It's the only court with a wall. Tennis courts have fences around them to keep the balls from flying out and hitting people walking past,"

Kuroko nodded. They sat in an odd silence for a while. Kuroko was content with the conversation-less quiet; he was used to it, but the golden eyed boy seemed uncomfortable.

"What are you doing scaring people so early in the morning, anyway?" He asked gruffly.

"I was standing there for a while; you didn't notice me,"

The boy looked as if he weren't sure whether Kuroko was joking or not.

"Why are you up so early?" Kuroko asked.

"Jetlagged. I just came back from the US,"

"A returnee?" Kuroko asked.

"Yeah. I went to middle school here in Japan,"

"Did you come back for high school?"

The boy nodded, "I went back to the US for tennis training, but I've come back to finish schooling,"

"You must really like tennis,"

The boy didn't say anything, but there was something in his eyes. It reminded him of the Generation of Miracles before everything had gone to hell. He had the same look Aomine used to have. And Akashi for that matter. Murasakibara, Kise and Midorima enjoyed basketball, he knew that, but they'd never had the avid love for it that Akashi and Aomine did.

Kuroko felt his stomach twist; he'd forgotten how much he'd missed that look.

Before he even realised what he was saying, Kuroko found the words spilling from his mouth; "Can you teach me tennis?" He asked.

The boy looked at him with surprise. Kuroko was surprised too. He'd never thought anything about tennis; he had no interest in the sport at all. But he needed something, anything, to fill the gaping maw that basketball had left in his heart. Maybe tennis could be it?

* * *

Later that same day, the two of them met again at the same park. They had exchanged names and phone numbers. Ryoma had also agreed to bring an extra racquet for Kuroko to borrow.

Ryoma wasn't entirely sure why agreed to teach the odd, blue-haired boy. He wasn't a patient teacher, nor did he enjoy helping others all that much (take Ryuuzaki's lessons as an example) but there was something about the bluenette. Something in the way he had asked that had touched Ryoma. It was almost pleading. Well, as pleading as a monotone voice could be.

Ryoma passed the boy a racquet.

"So what do you know about tennis?" Ryoma asked, pulling a ball from his pocket and bouncing it idly.

"Absolutely nothing," the boy said in his usual monotone, watching him curiously as he played with the tennis ball.

Ryoma's eye twitched slightly with annoyance.

"Do you play any sort of sport at all?"

The boy hesitated. Something flashed across his face, but it was too quick for Ryoma to catch. In a blink, the impassive mask was back in place.

"I used to play basketball,"

Ryoma cocked an eyebrow, "Aren't basketballers meant to be tall?"

Kuroko shrugged, "Perhaps tennis would suit me better since there does not appear to be a height restriction,"

Ryoma's eye twitched again, noting that Kuroko was probably half an inch taller than him.

* * *

Ryoma quickly taught him the basics. The blue haired boy had an average swing but poor control. It was to be expected though, since it was his first lesson. He also had odd footwork, probably due to the influence of basketball. Overall, he was pretty crap.

"Mada mada dane, Kuroko san," Ryoma offered the boy a can of Ponta, which he accepted. The two sat in companionable silence for a while.

"You never did tell me why you were up so early this morning," Ryoma noted.

"I…" Kuroko paused to gather his thoughts, "I had some nightmares,"

Over the break, Kuroko and Ryoma spent a lot of time playing tennis. Kuroko was getting better; he now had the basics, though he was nowhere near the level of Ryoma's old teammates in Seigaku. Eventually, after a one-on-one match, in which Ryoma decimated the poor bluenette, Kuroko collapsed face down on the ground, panting hard.

"Did you really play sport in middle school?" Ryoma asked, setting down a Ponta beside Kuroko.

"I did," He replied lifting his face off the concrete, "Why do you ask, Echizen kun?"  
Ryoma shrugged, "You're stamina is pathetic,"

"Stamina was never my strong point," Kuroko agreed, rolling over onto his back, "I played using assists and passes, which I can't utilise in tennis. I also used a technique called misdirection…"

Kuroko paused. He had a thoughtful look on his face, "Echizen kun. I have an idea…"

* * *

Kuroko adjusted his new jacket. He pulled on the sleeve, trying to get it to sit correctly, but gave up. It was the first day of his freshman year at Seirin high. He felt little of the apprehension most first years feel as they begin the next step of their life's journey. Shrugging to himself, he pulled out a book and weaved his way through the club fair that dominated the courtyard at the front of the school building.

"Join the literature club!" "Join the Shogi club!" "Join the Baseball club!"

The voices battled each other, each struggling to be heard over the commotion. Kuroko made a beeline toward the sport clubs. He spotted the basketball club. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

He walked toward the basketball club. Then past it. He made his way to the booth slightly behind and to the right of the basketball club's stand. He filled out a form and slipped it onto the stack.

_Name; Kuroko Tetsuya_

_Class; 1-A_

_Why do you want to join this club: I learnt Tennis over the Summer and I found it interesting._

* * *

End of Chapter 1

I haven't edited this chapter much. Normally I re-read a chapter 50 times before I post it. I also don't have much direction for this story. I've got the next three or four chapters written up though, so that's a good sign. If anyone's got any ideas, i'd love to hear them.

What will happen when the Generation of Miracles finds out Kuroko has ditched Basketball for Tennis? Will Akashi be happy that Kuroko has broken "The Oath"? How will Kuroko fit in with the Seigaku Regulars (who will make an appearance next time; Seirin is the newly established highschool continuation of Seishun Gakuen so most Seigaku graduates enter Seirin; they're still called the Seigaku team which is convenient ;) )

All the questions and more will be answered in chapters to come!

Review if you'd like to give me your opinion on where this story should go, who should feature, who should make appearances! Or Review simply if you enjoyed my story! Thanks a lot! :D

:D Laughing on the Inside :D


	2. We Make New Friends

A/N: What up? Some important things to note;

I'm going to rework the timeline a bit. If you've read my other stories, you'll be familiar with this. I like to explain these inconsistencies because it stops people from bugging me about it later; I need Seirin to be three years old instead of 2 years old so here's how it goes; 3 years ago, Seirin opens; the tennis club is founded by Tezuka Kunimitsu; recent graduate of Seishun Gakuen. A year later, Kiyoshi Teppei and Hyuuga Junpei enrol as freshmen and set up the basketball club. The next year is the current year with Kuroko and Kagami. Essentially, I'm adding an extra year to Seirin's founding, but keeping everyone the same age.

Another thing; this story is very fluid at the moment. I've got the next four or five chapters written, but I'm not _entirely_ sure about how I want the plot to progress. So I'm letting you guys have your say!

Would you guys like a Romance Subplot? Note that it would be a SUBPLOT. (nearly all my multi-chapter stories have a key romantic feature because I enjoy writing a romance theme)

If yes; what pairing would you guys like? RyomaxSakuno? KurokoxSakuno? KurokoxRyoma? I've never written Yaoi and I don't plan to; it would be shounen ai at best if that's what you want. (i've got nothing against yaoi, i just don't write that sort of thing well, i'm very vanilla when it comes to my romance writing)

Or would you prefer absolutely no romance?

Are there any other scenes/subplots you guys would like to see?

Let me know in a review, I'd be happy to take on requests and work them into the story if I feel it's appropriate.

Just to let you know, I _do_ have a general trajectory. Don't be scared that this fic will be a random waffle of crap; it will have a plot.

Final note

I REALISE THIS IS IN THE WRONG CATERGORY. It should be under KnBxPoT crossovers. I will get around to fixing this in the near-ish future. I was half brain dead when I posted this, I apologise. I've got a lot going on this week, so I'll figure out how to move it later.

* * *

**_~Changing Pace~_**

_Chapter 2: We Make New Friends  
_

Once Kuroko handed in his Tennis form, he made his way into the school building. He dodged and side stepped his way to the classroom, going unnoticed by all who passed him by. There weren't many people in the classroom yet, so Kuroko chose a seat near the back. He continued reading his book until a familiar face entered the room and dropped a bag next to the table in front of him.

"Echizen kun," He said in greeting, closing his book and laying it on the table.

Ryoma gave a start and turned around. He hadn't noticed the blue haired boy and had picked the seat purely by coincidence.

"That's a bad habit of yours, Kuroko kun," He said with a small smile. He was not entirely surprised to see Kuroko sitting behind him. Over the Summer, they had swapped many stories while Kuroko learned the ins and outs of tennis, including what school they would attend the following Spring.

"How was your…" Kuroko began but was interrupted by a piercing squeal.

"Ryoma sama!" shrieked a girl with two short, curly pigtails.

Ryoma sighed, ignoring the overbearing girl as she ran up to his table.

"It's so devastating that I can't be in the same class as you this year!" the girl wailed loudly, "Sakuno gets to, though, so lucky!"

A smaller, quieter girl smiled her hello. Ryoma nodded, albeit reluctantly.

"Friends of yours?" Kuroko asked.

The loud girl gave a shriek, "Who said that?" She asked, flicking her head around dramatically, looking for the source of the voice.

"Me," Kuroko replied, his face impassive, as always.

"Oh, my god, you gave me a heart attack! I didn't even notice you!" she continued loudly.

Ryoma rubbed his temple in annoyance.

"Are you Ryoma sama's friend?" She stalked up to Kuroko's table and scrutinised him thoroughly, "But wait, you didn't go to Seishun Gakuen!"

Kuroko blinked. He looked over to Ryoma and just barely raised an eyebrow.

"I met Ryoma _sama_ over the Summer," Kuroko said evenly. Ryoma blushed in embarrassment, but was saved by a new, equally loud voice.

"Echizen! Osakda!, Ryuuzaki!"

Three boys entered the classroom and immediately gathered around Ryoma's desk, asking him how his trip to America was. Ryoma gave his usual curt replies, but his friends didn't mind, seemingly used to the boy's abrasiveness.

"Ryoma _sama_ sure is popular," Kuroko noted once the bell rang the three boys and the loud girl had left to return to their own classroom. The quiet girl with the twin braids took an empty seat next to Kuroko, since the seats next to Ryoma were already taken by two other girls who were sneaking glances at Ryoma.

Ryoma blushed again, "Don't call me that," he said making a face almost like a pout, "Ryoma is fine. And they were friends from middle school,"

Kuroko looked to the girl next to him, "You all went to the same middle school?"

She nodded, her face going a bright shade of pink. She didn't raise her head to meet Kuroko's gaze, choosing instead to stare at the floor, "Seirin is the elevator school to Seishun Gakuen. It's only been built recently, but most Seigaku graduates join Seirin High," she said with a slight stutter.

Kuroko nodded. The class fell silent as the teacher walked in, but the sudden quiet was broken by the sound of the door being slammed open.

A booming voice echoed through the room, "I'm not late, am I?" A giant red haired boy asked loudly.

The teacher was not amused by the interruption.

"Uh…crap, sorry, I was signing up for the basketball club and…"

The teacher waved off his explanation and allowed the boy to take his seat without a detention, since it was only the first day. The boy sighed in relief and moved to sit in the last available seat; on the right of Kuroko and next to a window.

* * *

Lunch came and went, Kuroko declined to have lunch with Ryoma and his loud middle school friends, opting instead to read a book on the rooftop. After lunch they had two classes before the end of the school day. Last period was English. It would have been an uneventful class, as the ones before it were, but the tall red haired boy had forgotten his textbook. Kuroko offered to share. The red head reacted to Kuroko as everyone else did; with shock and surprise when he noticed that Kuroko existed.

As class wore on, Kuroko learnt that Kagami was terrific at spoken English; when Kuroko read a sentence aloud, Kagami was easily able to translate it. However, the returnee was terrible at written English. Kuroko on the other hand, had the opposite problem; his accent was horrible, but his reading was passable. They agreed to help each other out for the rest of the class.

"Thanks, for that," Kagami said to the bluenette, passing back the textbook as they packed up for the day.

"No need to thank me Kagami kun," He said simply.

Kuroko introduced Kagami to Ryoma and the two seemed to instantly rub each other the wrong way. Kagami sized up the smaller teen like a lion sizing up potential prey.

"You smell like a challenge," Kagami grinned with a feral gleam in his eye.

"Did you say I smell?" Ryoma asked with a cocked eyebrow, wondering whether he should be offended.

They devolved into an argument from there. Kagami muttered an insult in English, Ryoma replied back with his own English insults and the two traded swear words at each other. Kuroko smiled faintly; both reminded him slightly of his middle school friend, Aomine.

They made their way to the shoe lockers and changed into their normal shoes.

"Are you going home, Kuroko?" Kagami asked, pointedly ignoring Ryoma.

"No, I've joined the tennis club,"

"Really?" Ryoma asked in surprise.

Kuroko shrugged, "School regulations say everyone has to join a club,"

"Tennis, though? How boring," Kagami rolled his eyes, "You guys should do basketball,"

"Basketball is stupid," Ryoma shot back.

They continued their arguments into the changing room. Eventually they parted ways, Kagami heading toward the basketball courts and Ryoma and Kuroko heading toward the tennis courts.

Ryoma was immediately welcomed like a long lost family member. Upperclassmen jumped on the smaller boy, glomping him excitedly and asking him how his trip was. The other three freshmen from that morning were also there, warming up.

"Oi! Ochibi! Did you learn much over in America?" a tall male with spiky black hair asked. He had an elbow on his underclassman's head and was resting on him like a table counter. Ryoma took it in stride, seemingly annoyed, but not enough to shrug the boy off.

"I learnt a lot, Momo senpai. Ready for a rematch already?" The taller boy ruffled Ryoma's cap playfully.

"Ne, ne, Seigaku, finally back together!" another voice broke in happily. This boy had red hair that curled slightly at the ends.

"It is nice to be whole again," A boy wearing a black skullcap agreed.

Kuroko stood to the side, unsure of what to do. Training seemed to be temporarily halted for the reunion gathering. Ryoma looked over to him and gestured for him to come and meet his friends.

"Kuroko kun, these are my senpai from middle school," he said.

"Ochibi, who are you talking to…ah!" The dark haired boy made a shocked noise when he noticed Kuroko standing next to him.

"Hello, senpai," He said formally.

"This is Kikumaru senpai, Oishi Senpai, Fuji senpai, Inui senpai, Momo senpai and Kawamura senpai," Kaidoh was standing off to the side, declining to join in the happy huddle.

"Ne, ne, Ochibi actually made a friend? No way!"

"Kikumaru senpai is an ass,"

"I kid, I kid," Kikumaru replied with a laugh. Their banter was cut off by a loud, authoritative voice;

"Why is there no warm up happening?"

Kuroko looked to see a tall teen with rectangular glasses stride onto court. He had a powerful aura reminiscent of Akashi and the same stern expression.

"Captain, look, Echizen's back!"

The captain spared a look at Ryoma and nodded. Ryoma nodded back.

And that was enough for the two of them. The captain looked around the court and took a deep breath, "Let's begin," He called loudly, "First years, gather in,"

Kuroko, Ryoma, Ryoma's three friends and a bunch of other freshman followed the captain onto the main tennis courts.

"I am Kunimitsu Tezuka, your third year captain. I recognise a lot of familiar faces and I see some new ones. I hope you are all ready to get some work done," He said simply.

He began by setting the entire club, first through to third years, a jogging warm up. Kuroko was able to keep up with the first years, but was easily overtaken by the regulars. He was the first to drop out after 20 laps. The tennis courts were smaller than the basketball courts that he was used to running around, but that just meant he had to do more laps before he could collapse.

About three to four laps later the other freshman collapsed as well.

The captain took careful note of this.

After the warm up, Tezuka ran footwork drills. Kuroko was able to keep up with most of this, having had a crash course with Ryoma during the holidays.

After the warm up and drills, Tezuka called them back in. All of the first years were panting hard; Kuroko had collapsed face down on the floor a couple of times, with no one noticing save Ryoma, who was used to Kuroko's terrible stamina.

"We are going to set up a ranking tournament to determine who will be in the first, second and third strings and who will be part of the Regulars," He announced.

He brought out a whiteboard filled with lines and names, denoting the match ups for the ranking tournament.

The current Regulars stood near the back, with Ryoma.

"Hey, Ochibi, is your friend any good?" Momo asked. The other Regulars leaned in, curious to hear Ryoma's answer.

He smirked, "I trained him personally,"

The group of Regulars looked at the small, blue haired boy, sweating buckets and looking very much worse for wear. They decided not to underestimate him.

* * *

End of Chapter 2

Ooooh, next time we get to see Kuroko's tennis playing. Will he be good? Will he be awful? Will he be able to use misdirection? I know the answers to these questions, and so will you, next time!

Future chapters will include Kise's visit to Seirin. He's in for a shock when he realises Kuroko's not part of the basketball team! How will he react? Find out soon :D

Please review if you enjoyed my story; feel free to let me know your opinions on where the story should go and if you'd like any romance.

Thanks!

:D Laughing on the Inside :D


	3. And We Show You Our Strength

A/N: Hey guys. What up? I'm on fire with the updating thing. Well done me.

First of all, yeah, I haven't changed the category for this story yet. I'll do it next week cuz i'm not in the country at the moment so I can't be bothered to fiddle with this on my phone. Updating is more important to me and with what little internet access I have, i'll use it for that. And reading reviews because reviews are my life blood.

Secondly, apparently, no one likes the idea of Sakuno playing any major role in this fic, especially not as a love interest. So that idea is scrapped. Funny story, though; when I first decided I wanted to do a PoTxKnB crossover fic, the plot was originally going to be something like "Kuroko meets a brunette with twin braids whose genuine kindness helps him get over the heartbreak of his Teikou years. But how does a certain golden eyed tennis prodigy feel about this?" It was going to be some weird love triangle. But yeah, I guess that idea is on the backburner for now. Maybe in the future, but not for this story.

I think I'll leave it as mostly romance-less. There might be something between Ryoma and Kuroko, if you squint hard enough, but I'll leave that up to your own interpretation. Read into it what you will.

On another note, how good do we think Kise would be at tennis? For future reference, if I were to write a scene where Kise plays someone from Seigaku, what do we think would happen? Would Kise thrash them with his copy? (Kise will have played tennis in middle school, along with soccer, I don't want to give too much away, but suffice to say he'd be pretty good) Would he be a match for Momo? How about Fuji? Or Tezuka or Ryoma? Who do we think Kise would beat, if he would beat any of them at all? I'll probably only have him play one match, so let me know in a review who you'd like him to play.

If you've got any opinions on this, please let me know. I really enjoy reading your ideas and it helps me shape a good story, like with the romance thing.

Finally, thank you to everyone who reviewed! I absolutely loved reading them and I'll definitely take all your suggestions into consideration.

A lot of you guessed pretty accurately how I'm going to tackle Kuroko's tennis abilities, so kudos to you! We're on the same wavelength O.O

For those of you who are concerned that this will focus too much on the tennis, fear not. This specific chapter is heavily focused on tennis because I need to set the scene and I think you guys are probably interested in Kuroko's tennis skill, but the main plot of this story is Kuroko's journey, his growth as a person, the friends he makes and how the people interact together. All of the stories that I write are heavy with character interaction because that's what I love to write about the most. (Also the reason why I write mostly crossover fics; i like seeing how characters from other universes get along)

Anyway, onto the story!

* * *

**_~Changing Pace~_**

_Chapter 3: And We Show You Our Strength_

_Previously;_

"Hey, Ochibi, is your friend any good?" Momo asked. The other Regulars leaned in, curious to hear Ryoma's answer.

He smirked, "I trained him personally,"

The group of Regulars looked at the small, blue haired boy, sweating buckets and looking like a well beaten track. They decided not to underestimate him.

* * *

_He's….He's…He's terrible_. Was the consensus between the Regulars. All had kept an eye out on the bluenette after Ryoma's admission and all were surprised at how bad he was.

"Echizen, I thought you said you trained him," Momo asked accusingly, glaring at the shorter, green haired boy.

"I did. For about three weeks. He seems to have little talent for tennis," Ryoma shrugged nonchalantly, the hint of a smile playing around the corner of his lips, "But he's not as bad as he looks," Ryoma added in his friend's defence.

"Fsssh, he came last in the rankings," Kaidoh snorted. The Regulars had to agree; no matter which way they looked at it, Ryoma's friend was a below average tennis player.

He seemed to have little talent for predicting the path of the ball. The Regulars and even a lot of the first and second stringers could easily tell where a ball was going to land from the stance that the opposition took, however, Kuroko seemed to always move in the wrong direction. He also seemed to fall for easy tricks; like exerting too much energy diving for a cross court shot, then not returning to the centre quickly enough. When he did reach the ball, which in itself was a rare thing, he was able to hit it. His shots were accurate enough; he had yet to hit a ball out of bounds. But with his lack of tennis-foresight and below-average stamina, he quickly dropped behind in the rankings.

"Excuse me?" The group turned to look at Kuroko. Even though they were discussing him, they had all forgotten that he was actually standing beside them.

"Um, if it's not too much trouble, could I play a doubles match?"

Ryoma looked to his friend curiously, "Do you know what you're doing?" He asked him quietly. While he had not known the boy for long, he did know that Kuroko was not the kind of guy to make light jokes.

Kuroko nodded, his normally blank eyes ablaze with confidence. Ryoma couldn't help the grin that spread across his own face as he moved to stand by his friend.  
"We challenge Oishi and Kikumaru senpai," He said. Kuroko's fiery spirit was infectious.

There was a stunned silence.

Albeit, Ryoma could probably beat either Oishi or Kikumaru in a singles match, but Ryoma had never been a good doubles player and they had seen first-hand how bad the new kid was at tennis. The group looked to Inui.

"90.6% chance the Golden Pair would beat Echizen paired with anyone in a doubles match. 98.3% chance they would beat Echizen and Kuroko. 6.2% chance Echizen is bluffing through sheer cockiness. 99.8% chance Echizen knows something we don't,"

"I'm liking those odds; you're on, Ochibi," Kikumaru grinned.

Ordinarily, Tezuka wouldn't allow such a match to take place during regular training times, but it was the first day and even he had to admit; he was curious.

Kuroko and Ryoma took their positions.

Ryoma spun his racquet lightly in his hand as he waited for Kikumaru and Oishi to serve. He knew that Kuroko had some tricks up his sleeve; for the last few days of the summer break, he'd been watching Ryoma with an analytical eye, keenly observing his every muscle twitch and reaction. He'd also practiced some odd shots that hadn't been all too successful, but the blue haired boy seemed happy enough with the results.

"Ryoma kun," Kuroko called to him from the service line. Ryoma made eye contact with the bluenette. His voice was laced with nothing but utter determination, "I will be your shadow; the light taking the points will be you,"

Ryoma raised an eyebrow, but nodded all the same.

Oishi threw the ball up and stretched his arm for the serve. The game began.

At first it was a normal match. The golden duo were at peak performance, going shot for shot with Ryoma, who matched them with little difficulty. Kuroko seemed to do very little throughout the game. However, at the end of the first rally, Kikumaru hit a cross court shot that surprised Ryoma. He tried to make a dash for the ball, but he knew he wouldn't make it. He cursed under his breath.

To his surprise, the ball was returned. It shocked even Kikumaru and Oishi, who reacted too slowly to reach the ball.

"15-love!"

"What just happened?" Kikumaru asked. Oishi shrugged, just as confused.

They continued playing. The golden pair would fire shots to spaces that they thought were open, but then, in a flash, Kuroko would be there, ready to return the shot with high accuracy, if low precision.

Ryoma was surprised as well. Kuroko always seemed to appear wherever he was needed. It was as if the bluenette were reading Ryoma's movements, instead of the ball, trusting in Ryoma's instincts and jumping to wherever Ryoma wasn't, effectively covering the entire court.

Tezuka called the match over after the first set, having seen enough.

The pairs shook hands. Ryoma and Kuroko had lost by a single point in a single match, which was reasonable, considering Kuroko was still a novice to the game.

"That was amazing, Kuroko kun!" Kikumaru congratulated the boy.

"How were you able to disappear on court like that?" Oishi asked.

"Misdirection," Kuroko explained, accepting the praise with a nod and small smile, "Ryoma shines on court much more than I do. I take advantage of that and, while you focus on him, I move to where he's not,"

"Wow, that's so cool!" Kikumaru praised the boy.

"But that's pretty normal for doubles; you have to be in a position that you're partner isn't," Momo argued with a confused expression.

Inui stepped in, "Echizen is better at predicting the most likely trajectory of the ball. From his movements, Kuroko can calculate the second most likely shot. He positions himself to receive this second most likely shot in the case that Echizen's first prediction is wrong," Inui looked at Kuroko with an appraising, approving eye, "He can't read the patterns on court yet, but he's good at reading people's movements,"

Kuroko nodded, agreeing with the analysis.

* * *

Training continued as normal from there. Tezuka adjusted Kuroko's ranking to place him in the first string, as he was curious about the quiet boy's potential and wanted to watch how it bloomed. By the end of the first day, the first years were sore and ready to go home. The third string tidied up the court while the others left.

The Regulars and Kuroko left the courts together, most living in a similar direction.

"Kuroko kun, did you play any tennis in middle school?"

Kuroko looked at the red haired boy who was hopping energetically from foot to foot, "No, Kikumaru senpai, I played basketball,"

Inui scribbled this down on a notepad, muttering about data.

"Were you any good at it?" Momo asked curiously.

"I was a Regular,"

They looked at him in surprise, even Ryoma. He had known that the bluenette played basketball, but he assumed he was only a third stringer.

"It is where I learnt my misdirection technique. It works even better in basketball,"

"Which middle school did you go to Kuroko kun?" Kawamura asked.

"I went to Teiko Junior High,"

"No way!" Kikumaru and Momo yelled in unison.

"Fssh, what's so good about Teikou?" Kaidoh asked.

"Teikou Junior High excels in all areas. Their tennis team won the Middle School Regionals last year," Fuji supplied. Ryoma had been absent from Seishun Gakuen for the last half of semester to travel back to America, so the tennis team was missing their pillar of support. They came second place to Teikou.

"But I've heard that their basketball team was also insanely talented; they won Nationals three years in a row,"

Kuroko's eyes darkened a shade, but this went un-noticed by most of the Regulars.

"Why did you stop playing basketball, then, Kuroko kun?"

Kuroko shrugged, "It wasn't fun anymore," he said in his normal monotonous voice. But there was something deeper, that the Regulars could sense and decided not to push it.

* * *

Eventually they parted ways, saying they'd see each other tomorrow.

Kuroko decided to drop by the Maji burger on his way home. His parents had come back to visit for a couple of days before school started, but they were gone before he had woken up this morning.

He sat at his usual booth, sipping on his vanilla milkshake when Kagami dumped a pile of burgers down on the table and began eating, not noticing Kuroko at all.

"Good evening, Kagami kun,"

Kagami let out a surprised yelp, doing a spit-take of his burger. Kuroko was not impressed as he wiped bits of spittle off of his face.

"When did you get here?" he asked after regaining his composure.

"I was always here; you just didn't notice me,"

Kagami snorted.

Kuroko ignored it; "How was basketball?" he asked instead.

"It was good. The first years were teamed up against the Regulars. My stupid teammates tried to give up halfway though and we lost because the Regulars had really good teamwork,"

"Teamwork?" Kuroko raised an eyebrow curiously.

"Yeah. Apparently they made it to the finals of Interhigh last year with only second years," Kagami shrugged, shovelling fries and burgers into his gullet and talking with his mouth full of half-chewed food, "Individually, they're nothing special, but they work really well together,"

"That's the most important part of basketball, in my opinion," Kuroko said softly.

"You know anything about basketball?"

Kuroko nodded, "I played it in middle school,"

Kagami's eyes lit up; "Play a game with me!"

* * *

Kuroko stood on the local court. He had no idea how Kagami had managed to rope him into playing. But he had to admit, he had felt a wave of nostalgia once he had seen the enthusiastic, simple passion that flared in Kagami's eyes. Kagami tossed him the ball. He caught it easily and held the orange sphere in his hand. He thumped it against the ground. The dimpled rubber felt familiar in his hand, like a paintbrush to an artist or an instrument to a musician. He felt a completeness he hadn't felt in months. He had missed this feeling badly.

They began their game. Kuroko dribbled and attempted to pass Kagami, who easily knocked the ball from his possession. They only played for half a minute before Kagami realised how bad Kuroko was.

"You suck at this," Kagami groaned, running a hair through his short red hair.

"I never said I was good," Kuroko agreed sagely.

"Gah, Japanese basketball is pathetic," Kagami complained.

Kuroko shook his head, bending down to pick up the ball that Kagami had knocked from his hands, "One day, Kagami kun will meet the Generation of Miracles,"

"The Generation of Miracles?" Kagami parroted. He vaguely recalled something about them from the Coach. She had listed off the schools that had obtained a Miracle, but Kagami didn't see the big deal, "Even _you_ know about these guys?"

Kuroko ignored Kagami's pointed rudeness, "I went to the same middle school as they did,"

Kagami's eyes lit up, "How strong are they, really?"

"Kagami kun would get instantly crushed,"

Kagami choked in surprise, "Didn't have to say it so bluntly," he said scratching the back of his head. He barred his teeth in a feral grin, "Sounds like they'd be a good challenge,"

Kuroko was slapped in the face by another wave of nostalgia. _Kagami kun really is like Aomine kun._

Kuroko held the large, orange ball between the tips of his fingers. He took a breath of the fresh air, the smell of rubber and concrete dust filled his senses. The neon stadium lights buzzed to life above him.

He looked at Kagami's fired up expression. Yes, tennis was fun, tennis was interesting; but could anything really replace _basketball_?

"Kagami kun," Kuroko said seriously, though his expression was the same blank canvas it always was, "If Seirin's basketball team ever needs help to defeat the Generation of Miracles, please talk to me. I …" Kuroko paused.

_What could he offer? What was he willing to give? How far was he willing to fall?_ He closed his eyes. _Would Kagami take the same path as the other Miracles?_ He took a deep breath. _Could he really relive those days?_ He inhaled the court and the thousands of games that it had witnessed. He opened his pale blue eyes, "I would like to help,"

A sense of calm and weighty seriousness permeated the atmosphere. Some primal part of Kagami could sense the change, was struck by it. Still, he considered calling the small boy's bluff. Afterall, he had seen how terrible he was at basketball firsthand. But that look Kuroko pinned him with; his normally blank eyes so serious, so focused. He didn't have the heart to call him a liar. Something made him believe.

Kagami found himself nodding to the smaller boy, "I'll keep that in mind,"

* * *

End of Chapter 3

What do we think so far? Are we liking "the tennis which Kuroko plays"? I considered making this the title for about two seconds before I cringed and scrapped that idea.

Guess who's making his appearance next chapter? He's blonde, he's a model and he brings with him hilarity and drama on another level. How will he react when he realises Kurokocchi is playing tennis?

Also, yes, please let me know what we think of Kise playing tennis (this scene will NOT be in the next chapter, it's for future reference and a possible future chapter)

Please drop a review, i love to read them :) Whether it's an opinion, constructive criticism, an idea for a subplot or a scene, i'd love to know!

Thanks,

:D Laughing on the Inside :D


	4. Our Friends Have Not Forgotten

A/N: Whaddupp?

Yeah bit of a shorter chapter today. Got stuff going on, mostly tests and exams coming up. Anyway, this chapter introduces Kise, which I know a lot of you are excited for!

As part of a couple housekeeping things, I will be moving this story to the PoTxKnB crossover section. If I'm honest, I'd rather leave it here, but it's not in the right category and people are going to yell at me for it so I'll just get it over with. Some people have asked me for a warning before I shift it, just in case, so this it. This is my heads up to let you know that by 18/0ct/2014 this story will be moved to the crossover section. If you'd like to keep updated with it, I suggest you add it to your alerts or favourites (this is genuine advice, not me trying to drum up numbers, I promise!) alternatively, I guess you could just check the crossover section frequently.

After I move it, I'll be putting up the next chapter pretty much straight after so if you guys don't get an alert for it, let me know and I'll try to figure stuff out.

Anyway, moving on. I'm going to address some reviews because I want you guys to know that I do read them and that they mean a lot to me

Kise playing tennis; a lot of people would like me to write this scene, so it shall be done! You guys have given me a lot of ideas so I'll definitely try to incorporate them. Please don't be afraid to give me lengthy plot summaries, if that's what you'd like to do. I enjoy being inspired by them :D

I'm going to keep that chapter as plausible and in character as possible, so please don't fear that I'm going to make Kise some weird god of tennis who beats Ryoma blindfolded. Nor am I going to allow Seigaku to single-handedly kick his ass. It'll be enjoyable, you'll see ;) but more on that when we get there.

Some people have suggested that Kuroko could technically join both clubs if they held different training times. At the moment, Kuroko doesn't want to do basketball so that's not an issue, but in the future, I don't know how plausible that'd be. I'll address that later too. Probably.

Anyway, enough from me; please enjoy the story!

* * *

**_~Changing Pace~_**

_Chapter 4: Our Friends Have Not Forgotten  
_

The next few days went by normally. Ryoma and Kagami were fast becoming mortal enemies, with Kuroko and their love for pissing each other off their only connections. They argued over every insignificant thing and, when their spats got heated, they would convert to English. This was partly because Kagami felt more comfortable in the language and partly so that they could swear at each other without teachers telling them off.

Lunch was usually a quiet affair. Ryoma left the two in order to eat with his middle school friends, who would not leave him alone nor would they take no for an answer. They often invited Kagami (and Kuroko when someone remembered his presence) to eat with them, but both declined. Kagami often sat inhaling his humungous lunch in the classroom. Kuroko would watch him with disguised and slightly disgusted awe as he nibbled on a convenience store sandwich.

After school, Ryoma and Kuroko had tennis club while Kagami had basketball. Tennis was going well for Kuroko; he was getting better and his double plays were becoming more effective as he began learning how to control his hits. He found drop shots the easiest to make. The Seigaku Regulars praised his quick progress and unique play style. He was able to partner with most of the Regulars and give the golden pair, or any other pair, a decent run for their money. Surprisingly, though, he found it harder to team up with Kikamaru or Oishi. He realised that they were too used to sharing the stage and, thus, their individual lights were not strong enough to shadow him. He worked best with Ryoma who was easily one of the brightest players on the team. However, the captain himself had yet to partner with Kuroko.

After training, the Regulars would often go home together. Kuroko went with them part of the way, then would drop by Maji burger for a vanilla milkshake. Ever since their fateful first meeting at the diner, Kuroko had developed a habit of scaring the living daylights out of Kagami, who would invariably occupy Kuroko's booth without realising he was there.

Kagami would then regale Kuroko with tales of how basketball training was going. Kuroko listened with avid interest, though he kept his face as expressionless as ever. He enjoyed hearing about the games they played and the progress the team was making. Kagami often griped about the coach being a demon in disguise, saying that her training menu was crazily tough.

Kuroko offered his comments and sometimes they would play a game of basketball after they'd finished eating. Kuroko was a terrible player in Kagami's eyes, but after all the talk about his training, Kagami found it impossible to sit still and even Kuroko was better than no partner. After about twenty minutes, Kagami would invariably thrash Kuroko, who took it in stride, saying that he enjoyed playing with Kagami all the same. The two would eventually call it a night and say their goodbyes for the day, ready to see each other again in the morning.

* * *

A couple of days had passed and school was finally over for the day. Kagami was in the gym, playing some warm up matches against the other first years, spinning on his heel and dunking the bright orange ball into the hoop with a flourish.

"That was amazing, Kagami kun!" One of the first years praised the red head.

"So fast! So co-ordinated!" Others agreed, slapping him on the back with friendly encouragement. Kagami grinned and wiped his face on his bright yellow bib.

"Guys, listen up!" The coach bellowed as she skipped, literally skipped, into practice.

"This isn't going to be good," the second year captain groaned, motioning for the players to come gather in.

"I've scheduled us a practice match against Kaijou!" she beamed happily, presenting them with a piece of paper. On it was the time and date of the match.

"What the heck, why would you schedule it for tomorrow?" Hyuuga bemoaned loudly, "We'll have no time to prepare for it!" The other second years agreed that it _was _very soon.

The first years were confused at their senior's reaction. The second years took it in turns to exposit some of Kaijou's stats. The first years were suitably impressed.

"They've also got Kise Ryouta; a member of the Generation of Miracles!" Riko added. Hyuuga's frown deepened.

Kagami felt his blood begin to heat up. He couldn't suppress the excited grin that split across his face; finally, a member of the famed Generation of Miracles! He couldn't wait to test his skill against the so-called prodigies.

He was broken out of his competitive fervour by squeals of excitement.

"What the heck is happening?" The coach asked angrily, looking toward the source of the commotion. Her jaw dropped when she noticed a mop of blonde hair sitting on the stage, an apology on his lips.

"Kise Ryouta?!"

"Haha, sorry about this, could you guys wait a moment?" He asked as he finished signing various autographs. After a couple of minutes his fans were appeased and he jumped off the stage.

"What are you doing here?" the second year captain, Hyuuga, asked suspiciously, eyeing the blonde.

"I heard Seirin was going to be our next opponent. Then I remembered Kurokocchi goes here so I thought I'd say 'Hi'," He grinned simply, "Kurokocchi?" He asked, looking around.

"Who's 'Kurokocchi'?" Hyuuga whispered to Riko who shrugged, watching Kise jumping around excitedly, looking for his friend, with a mistrustful eye.

"You're misdirection's getting a lot better, Kurokocchi!" Kise called loudly to thin air, still apparently unable to spot his friend. Suddenly, his eyes narrowed and he flung out a hand to stop a basketball from connecting with his face.

"I don't know who you're looking for, but how about playing a game with me, Ikemen?" Kagami growled with an animalistic glint in his eye.

"Kagami!" Riko admonished angrily.

Kise grinned. He straightened his back, giving up the search for his friend for the moment, "As thanks for showing me something interesting, I guess I can spare a couple of minutes," He threw off his blazer and began dribbling the ball that Kagami had thrown earlier.

Kagami immediately formed a screen, planning to block the golden haired model. Kise charged forward, but at the last minute, spun on his heel, feinted left and made a perfect shot, the ball flying through the air into the hoop without hesitation. The players were stunned; it was the move that Kagami had just performed. Except that it was faster, more powerful and he had forced his way past Kagami's larger frame.

"Copycat, Kise Ryouta," Riko muttered to herself. _No, he doesn't just copy moves._ She thought to herself, _ It's more than that. He takes them and he makes them better!_ Riko's eyes widened as she realised the disparity between the first year standing before her and any high schooler she'd ever met before. Kagami stood below the hoop, also in shock. His eyes were glazed over; he had never imagined the skills that these Japanese players had to offer.

"If this is all Seirin has to show me, that's pretty boring," Kise yawned, "So where's Kuroko?"

Riko felt a vein in her head explode, "We don't know who this 'Kuroko' is!" She growled at the boy.

"Eh? Seriously? He goes to this school though!" Kise looked at the coach, genuinely shocked. He then shook his head with something akin to abhorrence, maybe even a touch of disgust, "You have our Phantom Sixth member and you're not even using him? What a terrible waste!"

"Wait. What?!" Riko screeched, "The Phantom Sixth member is real?" They had all heard the rumours about the Phantom Sixth man; a player never seen on court, but acknowledged by all 5 of the Miracles.

"Of course he's real," Kise said rolling his eyes, "He's about this tall, light blue hair, absolutely no presence," Kise rattled off a description.

"Wait, Kuroko Tetsuya?" Kagami asked, pulling himself out of his shocked stupor. Suddenly, he remembered Kuroko's words from that night at Maji's only days ago. "_I went to the same middle school as they did….I would like to help"_

"That's him!" Kise exclaimed, "Where is he?"

Kagami's pupils narrowed. He felt his anger surge. "That little bastard!" He growled, "I'm going to kill him,"

Training was instantly forgotten as Kagami dashed from the gym. Hyuuga, Riko and the rest of the basketball club members watched in confusion as the red head darted from the gym.

"Don't you dare hurt Kurokocchi!" Kise yelled, instantly chasing after Kagami.

After she got over her initial shock, Riko followed suit; "Oi, Kagami, you can't skip practice!" she screamed after him, following after Kise.

"Riko!" Hyuuga growled in frustration. He ran after her. The rest of the basketball club members wondered for a moment what to do. They shrugged to themselves; they too, were curious as to what in the world was happening. They dashed after their coach and captain.

* * *

End of Chapter 4

Kise's made his dramatic appearance! Is this how you guys envisioned it? I hope I've surprised and delighted you. Get ready for the absolute craziness that will accompany the next chapter.

Let's just say; shit's going to hit the fan.

Anyway, let me know your thoughts and your hopes for the next chapter. Do you think Kagami's going to get a chance to strangle his small friend? I don't have a story/plot related question for you guys this time, but I'd love you to drop a review anyway :D

Thanks!

:D Laughing on the Inside :D


	5. But Neither Have We

A/N; Hey guys! Here's the chapter, as promised!

I personally, haven't got much to say about this chapter except that I thoroughly enjoyed writing it. It was so much fun and I hope you guys will love it as much as I do!

To address some reviews;

I'm not entirely sure what I'll do with Sakuno at the moment. She'll probably be kept as a background character because I don't see her being able to do much otherwise (essentially, it'll be like canon; you know Sakuno's around somewhere, but she has very little screen time :P)

Yeah, the school year probably starts at a different time to what i've stated. I may or may not change that later, doesn't really matter at the moment so I'll get around to it when I have more free time. Speaking of which i'm in week 12 of my uni (final week) so i'm going to start getting mega busy soon. Just a warning to let you know that I haven't died.

So many of you loved the last chapter/hated that i lefted as a cliffhanger! haha, apologies but I hope it's worth the wait :D

Thanks again for all the reviews! I love you guys! You're so kind to me!

* * *

**_~Changing Pace~_**

_Chapter 5: But Neither Have We_

Kuroko stood on the tennis courts with the other first stringers. The training sessions for the tennis club were different for the first, second and third stringers. For the first string they were divided into doing either matches or drills; two courts played round robin rotations, while another two courts focused on drills. Kuroko was excused from matches for now because they all agreed that focusing on his basics would do him the most good.

He was currently working with Fuji, who lobbed different types of shots at Kuroko, causing his to run back and forth from the service to the base line.

"Kuroko kun, your shots are very good. You should try being more precise though," Fuji observed. He quickly produced an empty can of balls and placed it about three fee from the net, "Aim to hit this target,"

Initially, Kuroko was hitting the balls either too soft or too hard and continued missing, but eventually, he got into the swing of it. Accuracy had always been the one thing he was especially good at; his passes always had to land at the right place, or they were useless.

Eventually the pair took a break, Kuroko thanking Fuji for his time. Fuji waved off the thanks, saying that he enjoyed working with Kuroko. They wondered over to watch the matches. Echizen was playing Momoshiro in a singles match, both going all out.

Kuroko watched in fascination. Both traded shots with amazing agility with the rally growing more and more intense. Ryoma made a powerful stroke to the baseline, which Momoshiro returned using a drop volley. Ryoma surged forward, tipping the ball up, allowing Momo to make his famous 'Dunk Smash'. Ryoma growled, jumping back. He ran full tilt toward the base line and past it. The ball hit the baseline exactly and bounced violently upward. Without turning around, Ryoma hit the ball just as it bounced above his head. The backwards facing shot sped past Momo who had not been expecting Ryoma to return it.

"In! Ryoma's point. Game to Echizen," The first year ref called.

The fangirls gathered around the outside of the court let out a squeal of excitement.

"Ryoma kun sure has a lot of fangirls," Kuroko noted to Fuji, who nodded.

"But you should see Tezuka's fangirls. They're just as crazy. He banned them from tennis practice, though, because they were too distracting to the other members. You know how the captain likes to keep everything in order," Fuji smiled as if remembering a particularly amusing memory.

"Looks like you picked up some interesting moves in America, Ochibi," Momo said, extending his hand to the younger boy. Ryoma shook hands with his senpai and they both moved to join Fuji and Kuroko. Kikumaru and Oishi had just finished their set with the Kaidoh-Inui pair and also came to take a 5 minute breather with the other Regulars.

"Hey, Echizen, do you have fewer fans today, or is it just me?" Momoshiro asked, looking toward the squealing girls as he cracked open a water bottle. Normally, the tennis court was lined with highschool girls cheering for the young prodigy. However, today, while there were still a lot, there was certainly a noticeably smaller crowd.

"Wonder where they all went," Kikumaru mused out loud.

"Maybe they found someone more charming to fan over," Momo grinned, ruffling the smaller boy's head. Ryoma frowned and straightened his cap.

"Momo senpai, jealousy is an unappealing quality,"

"You little brat. I don't know how you stand him, Kuroko," Momo said looking over to the blue haired boy. Kuroko had become easily accepted into the group and he enjoyed their light hearted banter.

"Ryoma kun is very…"

"OI! Kuroko!"

Kuroko was interrupted by a very loud, very angry sounding voice booming from outside the courts.

"Is that Bakagami?" Ryoma asked, squinting his eyes and holding up a hand to shield them from the glare of the sun as he stared at the flash of red sprintig towards them.

Kuroko did the same, "It does indeed look like him," he agreed.

"Your friend looks like he's being chased by a stampede," Oishi pointed out. Admittedly, there was quite the crowd pursuing the large red head.

In a matter of moments, Kagami burst onto the court and ran up to Kuroko, grabbing him by the front of the shirt, "You asshole, why didn't you tell me you were a part of the Generation of Miracles?!" He snarled, lifting Kuroko off the ground.

"Kurokocchi!" a new voice exploded, ripping him from Kagami's grip and wrapping him in a sobbing hug, "I've missed you!"

"Hey! Kagami! Don't just storm into another club's practice!" A girl with short brown hair roared as she whacked Kagami solidly in the head with a clipboard.

"Kise kun, please let go of me," Kuroko said with his deadpan voice. He seemed unsurprised at the blonde's outburst.

The Regulars watched on with interest as their small, blue haired underclassman was held in the sobbing vice grip of a very handsome blonde male.

"Is that Kise Ryouta?" Kikumaru whispered to his partner as he watched the sight with confusion.

"It looks like him," Oishi whispered back.

"Who's Kise Ryouta?" Momo asked, furtively sliding over to join in their huddle.

"He's a famous model and athlete; he's on the cover of Zunon Boy!" Kikumaru murmured to Momo excitedly, "Wow a real celebrity!"

"Please go fangirl somewhere else, Kikumaru senpai," Ryoma rolled his eyes.

"Speaking of, I think we now know where _your _fangirls were, Ryoma kun," Fuji grinned, gesturing with a finger toward the fence where triple the normal number of girls were gathered, screaming Kise's name loudly. Many held up haphazardly made signs decorated with a nauseating amount of love hearts.

A loud and authoritative voice cut through the disruptive commotion like a knife; "What is going on?" it demanded.

Tezuka made his way on court, taking in the scene in front of him. A handsome blonde boy was glomping his new blue haired freshman while a girl with short brown hair and a whistle was berating a very tall red head. His Regulars were standing to the side, whispering and pointing furtively at the scene while the courts were surrounded by the general pandemonium of hundreds of fangirls and, what looked like, an entire sport team, mulling around outside.

"Kuroko?" Tezuka snapped his glare to the blue haired boy for an explanation as he seemed to be the centre of all the ruckus.

"I apologise, Tezuka buchou," Kuroko said, pushing the blonde off of him.

"Kurokocchi, what are you doing playing tennis?" the blonde asked ignoring the captain. Tezuka's frown deepened. He was displeased at the blonde's blatant rudeness.

"Kise kun, I…no longer wish to play basketball," Kuroko said taking a step back from the blonde and restoring his personal space boundaries.

"But we had so much fun, you loved basketball!" Kise argued.

"I did not agree with the way that the Generation of Miracles were playing,"

Kise pouted in confusion, "What-

"Hey, Kuroko, I'm still angry at you," Kagami interrupted once Riko had finished assaulting him with her clipboard.

Kuroko looked to his large friend who was protecting his head with his forearm, keeping half his attention on the small brunette. _ She must be the 'demon coach'_ Kuroko noted to himself with a small smile, "I apologise, Kagami kun, but I was not the same as the others. They are all much more talented than I was,"

"Nonsense, Kurokocchi!" Kise admonished, slinging an arm around the bluenette companionably, "You're skills were great, even though we both got bullied the most,"

"That never happened to me,"

"What? So it was just me?" Kise sobbed. He continued with his melodramatics and falsified memories, making quite the scene in the middle of the courts. Other players were beginning to wonder what was happening and joined in the growing crowd surrounding the multi-coloured first year group.

"Saa, you look like your head is about to explode, Captain," Fuji noted with an innocent smile.

The tennis Regulars turned to catch a glimpse of the murderous expression on their captain's face. They blanched, looking ready to flee the scene at a moment's notice. Kikumaru and Momo both cowered slightly, inching away.

Kuroko noted his captain's homicidal expression, paled slightly, despite his already ghostly pallor and pushed his loud friend toward the angry teen, hiding slightly behind the taller blonde's larger frame. "Kise kun, please apologise to the captain for your interruption," Kuroko said.

Kise looked from Kuroko and up to the bespectacled captain in puzzlement. Then, with a dazzling smile, the blonde clapped his hands together, "Ah, so you're the captain of the tennis team!" he said enthusiastically, not noticing the waves of murderous intent rolling off of the brown haired buchou.

The bespectacled boy nodded stoically.

"Perfect!" the blonde beamed, "Please give Kurokocchi to us. His talents are wasted here; he should come to Kaijou and play basketball,"

A pregnant silence followed Kise's declaration. Then what can only be described as nothing short of _utter chaos_ erupted on court.

"What the heck?! No way!" The brunette yelled, pushing Kise out of the way to stand directly in front of the bluenette. She used one of her hands to grab hold of Kuroko's jacket sleeve, her other hand still firmly attached to Kagami, lest he try to strangle the boy again, and introduced herself, "Kuroko san, I'm Aida Riko, come and join Seirin's basketball club!"

"You'd better not leave this school, you dumbass!" Kagami threatened, shaking a fist at him while Riko still kept him gripped firmly by his shirt collar.

"No, Kuroko kun can't leave, we like having him in the tennis club!" Kikumaru whined, latching onto Kuroko's other arm.

"Yeah, Echizen finally made his first friend all on his own! We're not letting you steal him away!" Momo agreed moving to stand behind the small blue haired boy, glaring down at the basketball club and the golden eyed model.

"He's _not_ my _first_ friend," Ryoma protested, the tips of his ears growing red in embarrassment.

Kuroko disentangled himself gently from his tennis senpai and the short haired girl in order to bow formally at Kise; "Kise kun, I must humbly refuse your proposal,"

Kise looked dramatically crestfallen, "But Kurokocchi-

"ENOUGH!" Everyone turned to the imposing tennis captain. The Regulars cowered in genuine terror, "Forty laps of the court," he ordered. The Regulars were up and running before he finished.

"Kuroko and Ryoma; sort out your friends,"

"Kagami is not my…" One look from Tezuka was enough to shut the shorter boy up.

Tezuka looked to the girl with the whistle, narrowing his eyes slightly, "I would request that you kindly not disturb our training session any further,"

"Of course, I apologise about this," The girl said amiably. She grabbed Kagami's ear and dragged him off.

"Kuroko you'd better come too!" Kagami growled.

Kuroko sighed, knowing he had to sort this matter out. Ryoma followed his friend, his curiosity piqued.

Kise kept pace with Kuroko and the rest of the basketball members as they made their way back to the gym.

"Kise kun always makes a scene," Kuroko muttered to his friend, "It is why Aomine kun always hit you,"  
"So mean, Kurokocchi," Kise whined.

The rest of the basketball club members trailed behind the group, whispering to themselves with awe. It was the first time they had ever seen one of the Generation of Miracles in person, let alone two members at once. They were surprisingly odd.

Once they made their way back, Riko ordered her club to do 20 laps of the gym as punishment for following them and making a scene. A lone voice protested that the ones making a scene were Kagami and Riko. That lone voice earned them an extra twenty laps.

"So Kuroko kun, would you like to join the basketball team?" Hyuuga asked, exempt from the punishment laps. Riko analysed his stats and frowned; they were way below average for a sportsman. Even for a regular person, he was still under average.

"I…" Kuroko paused. He looked to Ryoma. He didn't want to quit the tennis team. He was starting to enjoy tennis and he liked hanging out with the Regulars.

"Kurokocchi," The assembled group looked at the blonde who had an uncharacteristically serious look on his face, "Don't forget the oath," The weight of the words hung heavily in the air.

Kuroko frowned. He hadn't forgotten.

In the next instant, the blonde's face had returned to its regular, sunny disposition, "Anyway, I ought to get going now. My captain is going to be so mad at me for wandering off! It was good to see you again Kurokocchi! Make sure you come to the Kaijou match tomorrow! Don't you dare give up on basketball!"

Then he left as abruptly as he came, not bothering to say a goodbye to Seirin.

Riko and Hyuuga stared confusedly after him. Kagami and the other members of the basketball team finished their laps and fell dead to the floor in a heap.

"That blonde guy was a weirdo," Ryoma noted.

Kuroko shrugged, not bothering to deny it.

"Back to tennis," Ryoma declared and moved to leave. Kuroko followed.

"Hold on a sec!" Riko yelled, lunging for the blue haired boy, blocking his path to the exit, "You're the Phantom Sixth man, right? Kuroko Tetsuya?"

Kuroko's blank face betrayed nothing but mild surprise, "Kise kun told you about that, then?"

Ryoma raised an eyebrow "Phantom what?"

Kuroko shuffled uncomfortably with embarrassment, "It's just a name people started calling me," he explained, not wanting to go into the backstory.

"Would you mind playing a match with us?" Riko asked, grabbing Kuroko's sleeve with wide, pleading eyes.

"Um…I'd rather not…" He began.

"Pleaassssseeeee?" The girl asked, tugging insistently on his sleeve.

Kuroko looked at the girl with short brown hair and an innocent, begging expression. _Why not?_ Kuroko asked himself seriously. _What's stopping me?_ It was only a single match. What harm could it do?

* * *

End of Chapter 5

Wow, that was one continuous scene. I think that's one of the first chapters i've ever written without a scene break.

Anyway, I HOPE THAT WAS FUN FOR YOU GUYSS!

I know a lot of you wanted the Seigaku Regulars to watch Kuroko in action, but Ryoma will be their representative :P

PS if you're wondering about Kise playing tennis, you've obviously seen it's not this chapter. Just to clarify, I did say it would be a future chapter. I building up a bit more plot. When I get to that chapter, you'll see why I placed it where I did ;) But sorry if I confused you and made you think it was this chapter.

Oooooh will Kuroko play with Seirin or will he hold himself back? Will he go to the Kaijou game or will he cut his ties with basketball? What about the 'oath'?

Please review if you loved it, hated it, want to send me some happy vibes or have anything else you'd like to say!

Thankss!

:D Laughing on the Inside :D


	6. The Decisions We Make

A/N: What up? This has taken slightly longer than normal to go up cuz of exam prep. Next week exams start so I apologise in advance for the possible tardiness of coming chapters. I'll try to update at least once a week though!

So much feedback for the last chapter! I'm glad that most of you liked it!

A couple of reviews have been asking if I'll introduce other PoT characters. It's an interesting idea. I think it would definitely make things intersting, but I'll have to put a bit more research into the world of PoT (wikis for the win), which i don't have the time for at the moment, unfortunately. I'll keep it in mind though!Yes the "Oath" that was mentioned is the canonical one! I probably didn't make that clear.

Anyway, hope you enjoy this chapter too! It's one that a lot of you have been asking for!

Some of the basketball scenes are taken from canon, so if anyone has any arguments with the 'authenticity' of the match, I am so ready to rebut.

PS thank you for 100+ follows! It's much appreciated! I hope to live up to your expectations and continue entertaining you all with my stories! :D Have a wonderful week, guys!

* * *

**_~Changing Pace~_**

_Chapter 6: The Decisions We Make  
_

_Previously;_

"Would you mind playing a match with us?" Riko asked, grabbing Kuroko's sleeve with wide, pleading eyes.

"Um…I'd rather not…" He began.

"Pleaassssseeeee?" The girl asked, tugging insistently on his sleeve.

Kuroko looked at the girl with short brown hair and an innocent, begging expression. _Why not?_ Kuroko asked himself seriously. _What's stopping me?_ It was only a single match. What harm could it do?

* * *

"Hey, Kuroko, you owe me for lying! You'd better play me again!" Kagami growled, pulling Kuroko from his thoughts. Kagami was panting hard and trying to recover his breath after running 40 laps of the gym.

The ghost of a smile played on Kuroko's lips, "I never lied to Kagami kun. Kagami kun simply never asked,"

Kagami snarled at him.

"I…will play," Kuroko said, "Ryoma kun, if you would like to return to the courts, please feel free to,"

Ryoma shook his head, "I'd like to see this,".

Kuroko shrugged.

"Would you like to change your shoes, Kuroko kun?" Riko asked, noting that the boy was wearing tennis shoes; not exactly the best footwear for basketball.

"These will suit me fine,"

Riko nodded, "Okay, we'll have first years against the second years again. 5-on-5 scrimmage," She announced.

"Let's see if you guys can do any better than last time," Hyuuga grinned. When last they had a similar match, the seniors had mopped the floor with the first years, beating them 38 -18

Riko blew her whistle.

The match began with the tip off. Kagami immediately tapped the ball to Kuroko. Kuroko caught it, but as soon as the orange ball landed in his palms, it was stolen by Izuki. The second year then dribbled it down the field, passing it to Hyuuga who made an easy three-pointer. Kagami growled to himself. The match was playing out similarly to the previous first years vs second years match; Kagami was always either double or triple teamed in an attempt to suppress him. The other first years were much weaker than their senpai and were easily outmatched. By the time Riko blew her whistle to signal 3 minutes had passed, the second years were up 24 – 6.

"Gah, it's happening again!" one of the first years complained.

"Don't you dare start with that bullshit about giving up!" Kagami growled, grabbing the boy by the shirt. The last time the freshmen had played the second years, they had taken an early lead, Kagami scoring dunk after dunk. However, their seniors had retaliated by blocking Kagami off with two or three man screens. This time, they began the match by shutting Kagami down, not even allowing passes to reach the tall red head.

Kuroko kneed the back of Kagami's legs, causing the taller boy to drop the other first year in surprise.

"Kagami kun has anger issues," Kuroko noted. Kagami growled threateningly at him.

Riko and the other second years looked at Kuroko with surprise; they had completely forgotten he was playing. Riko wondered whether there was some kind of mistake; maybe this was all some crazily elaborate joke. Surely the scrawny blue haired boy with no presence couldn't have been part of the famed Generation of Miracles. The team that swept through the middle school basketball league with consistent and overwhelming wins. Riko frowned. She blew her whistle to signal the end of the break.

* * *

Kuroko looked to his teammates, noticing their dispirited expressions. He stretched his arms and closed his eyes for a moment, centreing his thoughts. He opened his eyes with new focus.

"Please pass me the ball," He muttered softly to his teammates, who looked at him in surprised, having forgotten he was even part of their team. They frowned in confusion, but nodded all the same.

The match began again. This time, however, things were different. The first years snatched the balls as they were able and, as per his request, they passed to Kuroko. Almost by magic, the ball seemed to end up at the right place at the right time. Perfectly lined up shots fell into the first-years' hands. Even the double and triple team on Kagami started losing its effectiveness. The scores quickly shifted.

"What's happening?!" Hyuuga barked at his teammates. He couldn't understand how the first years were able to break through their defence.

"Misdirection," Riko whispered to herself, astonished.

Ryoma, who was sitting on the sidelines, watched with renewed interest. He had found the first half of the match utterly boring. But now, he was beginning to see what Kuroko meant when he had said that his skills were better applied to basketball. Kuroko was able to weave and duck his way to whatever position he needed to be in on court. His passes were quick and accurate; he never stayed in contact with the ball for longer than a second, using taps and glancing blows to palm the ball towards his teammates.

Ryoma had to admit; Kuroko was good. Seeing the blue haired boy in his full glory made Ryoma truly appreciate his skill on a whole new level. While it did work to a certain extent in tennis, there was only ever going to be four players on the court at any one time; it was easy enough to keep track of everyone when one payed attention. But ten people, running frantically around a field of play only slightly bigger than a tennis court, was pure chaos. Kuroko could easily make himself scarce, causing the others to forget him and concealing himself in the mayhem.

Kuroko was quietly, silently was a ghost on the court; a phantom.

_Ah, it makes sense now_. Ryoma thought, remembering the title.

But despite his astounding prowess, what Ryoma found the most surprising was the boy's face. Ryoma saw more expressions flash across the bluenette's face in the space of 3 minutes than he'd seen over an entire summer break. Frustration, contemplation, joy, relief but most of all, passion took centre stage. It was like Ryoma was meeting a whole new person. _That guy loves basketball_.

Ryoma shook his head. Maybe this was it; the place where Kuroko should be. Albeit, the boy liked tennis; he may even have a potential for tennis, but after the hours of practice and matches over the holidays, not once had the boy even cracked a smile. Ryoma took one last look at the scene, at Kuroko's ever-changing expressions and felt a tug of some negative emotion he couldn't quite name. He brushed it away quickly, though, choosing not to dwell on it. _Idiot. _Ryoma shook his head. Quietly, he slipped out of the gym and returned to the tennis courts.

* * *

The game was in full swing. The score was now 44-45 with the seniors years in the lead. There were seconds left on the clock. The ball landed in Kuroko's hands. Riko brought the whistle to her lips. The boy made a split-second decision, dribbling toward the hoop for a layup. The first years screamed their encouragment. The second years frantically dashed toward him, hoping to make it in time for a block. Riko took a deep breath, eyes still keenly focused on the game. The seniors were too late, Kuroko was too close to the hoop. He leapt into the air, the ball arcing gracefully from his fingers.

The ball hit the backboard, spun the circumference of the hoop and tilted off.

He missed.

The first years gasped in shock. The second years did too; they were too stunned to even contemplate making a move for the ball. Kagami, however, ran up behind Kuroko and slammed the ball forcefully into the hoop. Riko blew her whistle. 46-45 was the final score. The first years had won after making a colossal comeback. They gathered around the small blue haired boy, patting him on the back, singing his praise.

The second years stood catching their breath.

"That Kuroko kid is really something," Koganei noted to Hyuuga, who agreed.

"Kuroko kun!" Riko said bounding up to the boy, "You have to join the basketball team!"

The boy looked in surprise at the enthusiastic coach. He looked around the gym as if disoriented, as if he was waking up from a dream.

"I…" Kuroko looked for Ryoma, but the boy had already left the gym. Kuroko felt a pang of loneliness. _Why not? What's stopping me?_ Kuroko realised he knew the answer to the questions he'd been asking himself earlier.

_I knew I'd fall in love with basketball again._

Kuroko jumped up suddenly, startling the coach. He made a frantic grab for the tennis racquet he'd brought with him. In a flurrious rush he told the coach he'd think about it and nodded his farewell to Kagami, saying he'd see him tomorrow. He darted from the gym with a troubled look crossing his face.

_And I don't know if I want that._

* * *

Ryoma was hitting a tennis ball against a brick wall at the back of the school. He lunged left and right, returning the ball with his usual speed. A million thoughts were racing through his mind as he rallied against his formidable opponent.

"Would you rather a partner?"

Ryoma leapt a foot in the air and missed a shot. The ball bounced past him, but was caught by a familiar blue haired ghost.

"You're going to give me a heart attack, one day," Ryoma frowned, hand clutching at his chest.

Kuroko tossed the fluorescent yellow ball back to Ryoma, who caught it deftly.

"What are you doing here?" He asked, gesturing to courts, "Shouldn't you be with the basketball club and Bakagami?"

Kuroko looked at him blankly, cocking his head slightly to the side, "Aren't I part of the tennis club?"

Ryoma raised an eyebrow, "Are you?"

Kuroko sighed, "I told them I wasn't sure. I don't know if I can play basketball again. If I _want _to play again,"

Ryoma moved to the bench where he had left his bag. By the time he'd gotten back to the tennis club after Kuroko's basketball display, his seniors had gone home. They weren't sure how long Ryoma would take so they left him a note telling him to lock up when he got back. He'd picked up his gear and dumped it on a bench outside the courts, locking the clubroom behind him. He'd spent the next ten minutes playing tennis by himself until Kuroko scared the shit out of him.

"Why wouldn't you play basketball? You seem to like it," Ryoma asked focusing on his can of Ponta and not makin eye contact with the blue haired boy as he bounced the tennis ball against the pavement in thought.

He hesitated with his answer; "It's true. I like basketball -I love basketbal. But it's the people. I play basketball, a team sport, because of the people,"

"You don't like the Seirin team?" Ryoma probed, looking up curiously.

"No, that's not it," Kuroko shook his head, "I like the Seirin team a lot. They seem like good people..." Kuroko bit his lip slightly, "Kagami kun is good. He has a lot of potential. He might even join the other Miracles one day...I don't want to watch him go down that path, though," Kuroko's eyes grew dark, "I can't watch it again,"

Ryoma hefted his bags onto his shoulder, "Then don't,"

Kuroko looked at the boy, face blank, but the slightly raised eyebrow was enough for Ryoma to sense the unasked question.

"Don't watch him go down that path," Ryoma clarified, "Stop him. Or guide him,"

"But what if I fail?" Kuroko asked with a frown, "I failed before,"

"Mada mada dane," Ryoma shrugged.

Kuroko paused. Was it really that simple? Just try harder? Was that really it?

Kuroko shook his head to clear his thoughts. He had a lot of thinking to do.

* * *

End of Chapter 6

So what do we think?

Was this how you pictured it? Better? Worse? let me know your thoughts!

Also, next chapter will be the Kaijou match! Excitement! I haven't fully written it yet so input would be thoroughly welcomed? Should Kuroko volunteer to go? Should he skip tennis to go? Will he be dragged along by Kagami? By Riko? Will he go at all? Let me know what you think or would like to see!

:D Laughing on the Inside :D


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